Measuring the amount of product dispensed from a rolled product dispenser is quite useful for many industries. For example, manufacturers of rolled sheet products such as wrapping paper, toilet paper, paper towels, and the like frequently need to determine the amount of material removed from rolls. In the deployment and sale of cording, rope, string, ribbon, chain, and other elongated products, dispensing rolls are frequently used. When dispensing rolls are employed, such rolled products may be utilized in manufacturing operations or in a retail environment. The need to accurately and reliably track dispensing activity is important.
In the paper industry, consumer behavior may be studied by observing usage patterns experienced by consumers when various grades or types of paper products are presented for use. For example, calculating the amount of pulls per event, the average length or number of perforated paper units taken for each dispensing event, and the number of pulls that may be employed to deplete each roll, as just a few examples, can be quite useful for market researchers. Thus, there is a need for improved apparatus, systems, and methods for collecting such data, and making such data available to market researchers or others concerned with the amount of product that is depleted or dispensed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,381 discloses a system and method for collecting data on individual and aggregate use of toilet tissue or other rolled absorbent paper in a public washroom. The apparatus includes a modified dispenser for releasing paper from a large roll, with internal mechanisms including a magnetic movement detector, and a control unit. These mechanisms are mounted adjacent to the roll beneath a housing. Thus, according to the teachings of the patent, a toilet stall in a public washroom may be modified by placing a sensor on the stall door to detect the presence of a person in the stall.
A significant limitation to the apparatus shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,381 is that the apparatus shown therein is relatively expensive. Typically, it requires significant and extensive modifications to a restroom stall to employ the system. Further, consumer research has shown that product usage patterns are quite different at home than in public restrooms, so the consumer behavior exhibited in the public stall may not closely match consumer home usage patterns of behavior.
Additionally, the data collected when using the apparatus of some prior art systems is limited in usefulness by the fact that such data is based upon timed use periods. Timed use periods sometimes cannot readily provide needed data on the number of individual sheets (or length) depleted for each separate and individual pull.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,919 discloses a system and method for collecting data on individual and aggregate use of rolled tissue products. This patent is related to U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,381 and contains essentially the same disclosure.
What is needed in the industry is a system, method and apparatus for accurately detecting and recording the amount of a rolled product dispensed to a user. A system is needed that is capable of providing more than merely a time window for data collection, but instead may be capable of directly measuring the feeding of product by evaluating and/or recording separate, identifiable, measured pulling events. An apparatus or method that facilitates direct measurement of product usage by detecting of rotation of a supply roll, storing relevant data, and then displaying or using the data in a useful format for study or inventory control would be desirable.